Cabinet hinge



Jan. 12, 1960 w. R. AMSTUTZ 2,920,341

CABINET HINGE Filed Dec. 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WALTER R.AMSTUTZ ATTORNEY Jan. 12, 1960 w. R. AMSTUTZ 2,920,341

\ CABINET 'HINGE Filed Dec. 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WALTER R.AMSTUTZ ATTORNEY United States Patent CABINET HINGE Walter R. Amstutz,Levittown, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to WhirlpoolCorporation, St. Joseph, Mich., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationDecember 16, 1957, Serial No. 703,065 Claims. (Cl. 16-171) Thisinvention relates to hinge constructions ,for doors and the like. Moreparticularly, it is concerned with providing a unique hinge arrangementfor a cabinet door, whereby the cabinet door may be readily removed fromthe hinge mounting and wherein novel means are provided for preventingthe over-pivoting of the door in either one of two directions of pivot.

Various hinge designs have previously been employed for cabinet doorsand the like. These, however, have not proven entirely satisfactory forone or more reasons. Some hinge arrangements, for example, involvedcomplicated designs or parts that could not be easily fabricated. Otherhinge assemblies were not subject to ready installation. Fnally, mosthinge assemblies used in the past for cabinet doors were incapable inand of themselves of restricting pivotal movement beyond a predeterminedpoint. All of these aforesaid difficulties are believed overcome by thenovel hinge assembly of the instant invention.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide aunique hinge arrangement, whereby a cabinet door or the like can beremovably secured to a base cabinet or other structure in a minimumamount of time and without the use of any special tools.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a unique hingearrangement for a cabinet door and the like wherein pivotal movement ofthe cabinet door beyond predetermined points'ineither one of the twodirections of pivot will be effectively prevented.

[it is a further object of this invention to provide a unique simplifiedhinge arrangement for a cabinet door and the. like wherein a common stopmeans is employed on at least one. of the hinge components forpreventing pivotal movement of the cabinet door beyond predeterminedpoints in either direction of pivot.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel hingearrangement for a cabinet door and the like wherein the hinge component,secured to the cabinet door, may be quickly snap fitted into engagementwith the hinge component secured to a base member without the use of anyspecial tools.

Other objects and advantages of the instant invention will become moreapparent from a review of the following detailed description, when takenin conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is an exploded view of the various hinge elements making up thehinge assembly of the instant invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the hinge assembly of the instantinvention with the various components thereof being shown in assembledrelationship and as secured to a base member and a door member;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the hinge assembly of the instantinvention when taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2, with parts removed forthe sake of clarity; and

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the hinge assembly shown inFigure 2.

With further reference to the drawings, the hinge as- 17 and theshoulder 18 sembly 1 of the instant invention is generally comprised ofa hanger plate 2 securable to a base member 3 and a hinge plate 4securable to a door member such as a cabinet door 5.

The hanger plate 2 in turn is generally comprised of an elongated baseportion 6 and an ofiset bifurcated outer portion 7, which is divided bymeans of an elongated slot 3 into a pair of fingers 9 and 10. A portionof the slot 8 adjacent to the outer extremity thereof is also widened orenlarged to form a pivot pin aperture 11. The outer extremity of finger10 is also enlarged to form an ear portion 12. Afixed to the ear portion12 in a depending fashion is a hinge stop 13.

The hinge plate 4 is generally comprised of an upstanding wall 14provided with apertures 15 and a flat top or base portion 16. It willalso be noted the base portion or top 16 is connected to the wall 14 bymeans of an angularly disposed or sloping wall portion 17. An arcuateslot 18 is located in the top of base member 16. This slot 18 along withthe section 17 of wall portion on base member 16 form a trackway for thestop 13 when hinge plate 4 and hanger plate 2 are assembled. Alsorigidly secured to the top of the base 16 is a pivot pin 19.

The hinge components 2 and 4 are assembled as follows:

First of all, the base portion 6 of the hanger plate or member 2 issecured to a corner edge of a base member 3, such as a cabinet frame bysuitable screws (not shown). The hinge plate 4 in turn is secured to acorner edge of a door'5 in such a fashion that the top 16 thereof islocated within a cut out or recessed section 23 in the door and securedthereto by means of suitable screws inserted through the screw holes 15in the upstanding wall 14 of the hinge plate. With the hinge plate 4being rigidly secured to the door 5, the door 5 and hinge plate 4 aremoved forward as indicated by the arrows in Figure 1 until the shank 20or pivot pin 19 is partially received within the pivot pin aperture 11.The door 5 is then rotated in a normal opening manner to bring theshoulder 18 on base member 16 into bearing engagement against the hingestop 13. The leverage applied by continued rotation of the door 5 causesthe shank 20 of pivot pin 19 to urge the finger 9 away from the finger10. 7 Since the hanger member 2 is made of a somewhat resilientmaterial, such as spring steel, the fingers 9 and 10 of the bifurcatedportion 7 of the hanger plate2 will easily open up an amount sufiicientto allow the shank 20to be snap-fittingly forced completely into thepivot pin aperture 11.. After insertion of pivot pin'19-into aperture11, fingers 9 and 10 will closeabout the shank 200i pivot pin 19 andsecurely, but removably, hold it in place in opening 11. At the sametime, the hinge stop 13 on the hanger member 2 will also slidingly fitwithin slot 18 in the base member 16 of the hinge plate 4.

It may thus be seen that there is provided a unique hinge arrangementwhereby the door 5 can be removably secured to the base cabinet 3 in aminimum amount of time without requiring the use of any toolswhatsoever.

In operation, the door 5- is pivoted about pivot pin 19 located in pivotopening 11. When the door is closed, the hinge stop 13 on the hangermember 2 will engage the end 25 of the slot 18 in the base member 16whereby inward movement of the door will be restricted at the properpoint.

At the same time, the same hinge stop 13 also comes into play when thedoor is opened. During opening of the door, stop 13 will ride in slot18, past sloping wall portion 17' until it contacts the shoulder orabutment 18 on the base member 16, whereby it will advantageously limitthe outward pivotal movement of the door so that it cannot bang into anadjacent cabinet section or other object.

From the above description, it will be observed that a unique simplifiedhinge assembly has been provided.

Although the hinge assembly 1 of the instant invention has been shown asbeing applied at the top of a cabinet door, the same assembly can beused for the bottom of the door simply by reversing the positions of thevarious hinge components. It will also be noted that the offset portion7 of the hanger plate 2 is so offset with respect to portion 6 thereofthat it is adapted to override or be located on the outside of the hingeplate 2 on the door in order to provide for clearance of the cabinetdoor during the pivoting thereof.

It will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made inthe instant invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof as defined by the appended claims wherein:

What is claimed is:

1. A hinge construction for connecting a base member to a cabinet doorcomprising, a hanger plate secured to said base member, a hinge plate,one portion of said hinge plate being fixedly secured to said cabinetdoor, said hanger plate being bifurcated to define a slot and spacedrelatively yieldable ends, a portion of said slot adjacent the outerextremity thereof being enlarged to provide a pivot pin aperture, stopmeans on said hanger plate, a pivot pin secured to said hinge plate andsnap fitted within said pivot pin aperture in said hanger plate byseparation of said relatively yieldable ends, and stop means on saidhinge plate cooperating with said stop means on said hanger plate forlimiting pivotal movement of said door during both the closing andopening thereof.

2. A hinge construction of the type set forth in claim 1 wherein saidfirst-mentioned stop means comprises a pin and said second-mentionedstop means includes a slotted portion in the hinge plate.

3. A hinge construction for connecting a base member to a cabinet doorand comprising, a bifurcated hanger plate secured to said base memberand defining relatively yieldable spaced apart ends, a hinge platehaving one portion fixedly secured to said cabinet door, pivot means onsaid hinge plate snap fitted to said hanger plate between saidrelatively yieldable spaced apart ends, and stop means on said hangerplate cooperating with stop means on said hinge plate so as to causelimited pivotal movement of said hinge plate and said door during boththe opening and closing thereof.

4. Ina hinge construction for connecting a base member to a door, abifurcated hanger plate secured to said base member and definingrelatively yieldable spaced apart ends, a hinge plate fixedly secured tosaid door, pivot means on said hinge plate snap fitted to said hangerplate between said relatively yieldable spaced apart ends, a stop meanson said hinge plate, and a common stop means on said hanger platecooperating with said firstmentioned stop means during both the openingand closing of said door so as to cause limited pivotal movement of saiddoor during both the opening and closing thereof.

5. In a hinge construction for connecting a base member to a door, ahanger plate secured to said base member, a hinge plate having a portionsecured to said door, said hanger plate being provided with a slot, aportion of said slot adjacent the outer extremity thereof beingenlarged, a stop pin on said hanger plate, a pivot pin secured to saidhinge plate and snap fitted within the enlarged portion of the slot inthe hanger plate, and said hinge plate also having stop means includingan arcuate slotted portion therein for cooperating with said stop pinduring the opening and closing of the door so as to cause limitedpivotal movement of the hinge plate and the said door during both theopening and closing thereof.

6. As an article of manufacture a hinge component comprising a hingeplate, said hinge plate including an upstanding wall securable to adoor, a base portion disposed at a transverse angle to said upstandingwall and a sloping wall connecting said upstanding wall with said baseportion, said base portion also having a slotted portion, and a shoulderdisposed adjacent a section of said sloping wall, said slotted portion,a section of said sloping wall and said shoulder serving as stop meansadapted to cooperate with stop means on another hinge component.

7. The article of manufacture as set forth in claim 6, including a pivotpin secured to the base portion of the hinge plate.

8. In a hinge mechanism, a first member having a bifurcated terminalportion defining a pair of relatively yieldable spaced apart ends and apintle receiving recess positioned inwardly of said ends, a secondmember carrying a pintle receivable by said recess upon a separation ofsaid ends to accommodate movement of said pintle toward said recess,first cam means on one of said members, and second cam means carried onthe other of said members engageable with said first cam means forsimultaneously effecting a separation of said ends and the positioningof said pintle within said recess during relative pivotal movement ofsaid members when said pintle is initially positioned adjacent saidends.

9. The invention set forth in claim 8 in which said first cam means isfurther engageable with said second member to limit relative pivotalmovement of said members when said pintle is positioned within saidrecess.

10. In a hinge mechanism, a first member having a bifurcated terminalportion defining a pair of relatively yieldable spaced apart ends and apintle receiving recess positioned inwardly of said ends, a secondmember carrying a pintle receivable by said recess upon a separation ofsaid ends to accommodate movement of said pintle toward said recess, andcam means on said first and second members for simultaneously effectinga separation of said ends and the positioning of said pintle within saidrecess during relative movement of said first and second members whensaid pintle is initially positioned between said ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

